Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed the proposal with the French president during a meeting at the Elysee Palace, six days ahead of a crunch EU summit in Brussels on Sunday (23 October).
The Netherlands would like to see a commissioner enforce austerity measures on countries breaking the Stability and Growth Pact, which limits public debt and deficits in the euro area at 60% and 3% of GDP respectively.
Greece, whose overall debt is forecast to climb to 162% of annual economic output, was able for years to submit falsified statistics about its level of indebtedness, exposing serious flaws in the way budget discipline is enforced in the euro zone.
"We think it's an interesting idea that deserves to be explored," said the French presidency.
According to the Elysee, the proposal is similar to a French idea that would see a member of the College of Commissioners specialise in matters related to the euro area. "We believe it is necessary for the European institutions, including the Commission, to adapt their functioning to the euro area," the source said.
This would not necessarily mean creating a new position but rather assigning new missions to an existing Commissioner, a French source added.
For his part, Mark Rutte told reporters that Sarkozy "looked positively" at the Dutch proposal but felt that the powers of the commissioner remained to be discussed.
For the Dutch Prime Minister, the new position could be introduced by the 17 eurozone countries, without requiring a modification of the European treaties. "We believe that our proposal for an EU commissioner may go through enhanced cooperation," he said referring to treaty provisions allowing a small group of countries to press ahead in some policy areas without the approval of all 27 EU member states.
He hoped that there could be at least an agreement in principle on this proposal and other issues related to the crisis in the euro area and the situation in Greece, at the European summit on Sunday.
"What we must avoid is to have other Greeces," he argued.
